


It's Fall And I'm Feelin' Cuddly

by catsaremyboyfriend



Series: Asexual Snuggle Buddies [4]
Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-20 14:03:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2431520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catsaremyboyfriend/pseuds/catsaremyboyfriend





	It's Fall And I'm Feelin' Cuddly

He comes home to Bucky Barnes asleep on his couch. “Okay…This is new.”  
_This_ is Cap’s soulmate, the one who Clint doesn’t really know but likes anyway. He has a thing for previously brainwashed Russian assassins.

“Barton.” Bucky goes from asleep to sitting up in an instant, brushing tangled hair out of his eyes. There’s a red mark on his cheek where he was resting his face against the metal arm. 

“Hey there, Bucky. Uh, don’t get offended, but what are you doing in my apartment?” 

“Kate Bishop said I could stay here for a while.”

How does Kate even _know_ him? “Uh, yeah. Sure. Do you want pizza?”

“Yeah.” 

 

They’re watching TV and eating pizza when Kate walks in. There’s a long bruise along her cheekbone and a testy annoyance he recognizes. “Tracksuits.”

“Yep.” 

“You gotta learn how to duck.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She settles on the other side of Bucky. Clint wraps a hand around the back of her neck and squeezes. “Missed you.”

“Missed you, too.” 

“I heard that-”

“-Spidey finally found his soulmate?”

“Yeah, that crazy guy. Deathstroke?”

“Deadpool.” 

“Same thing.” She throws her legs across Barnes’ and he tenses, then visibly forces himself to relax. 

“I’ve been craving-”

“-pumpkin bread? Same. Bought some from Kelly’s.” 

“I’d say you’re a saint, but-” “-saints can’t shoot a man between the eyes from a thousand feet.” 

They laugh together. It’s an old joke. “Jesus. Nat wasn’t lying. You two are fuckin’ weird.” They shrug.

 

Bucky leaves after two days holed up in their apartment, and they don’t speak of it, but every once in a while he comes back, spends a few days squeezed between them on the couch. If Clint sometimes finds Bucky and Kate whispering together, her careful hand on his shoulder, it’s not like Clint’s worried he’s gonna lose her. 

 

_________________________________  
“Clint, I _hurt_ ,” Kate says as soon as he walks in the door. She’s curled up on the couch, face scrunched up. He settles carefully by her feet and rubs at the boney part of her ankle. 

“What’s wrong, Katie-Kate?” 

“ _Cramps_.”

“Please tell me you’re not bleeding all over my couch.” 

She kicks weakly at him. “You’re a bad soulmate.”

“Please. I’m the best soulmate. Cause I’m gonna get you painkillers and a heating pad and we’re gonna sleep the day away.” 

“I love you,” she says fervently as he stands.

“Love you too.” 

 

He strokes her hair and makes sure the heating pad is warm enough. The first time she got her period after they found each other they were in a cell. There were no painkillers. Kate had cried. She’d been quiet through the torture but the cramps had made her cry. He won’t let it happen again. 

She falls asleep as soon as the medicine hits. When she wakes up, she moves around gingerly, eats a ham sandwich, then gets back under the blankets with him tucked close to his side. She drops off again against his chest, a patch of drool already spreading across his shirt. He doesn’t mind. It’s Kate. He watches TV til he’s yawning, falls asleep with his head tilted back.

___________________  
“So, like, say I saw this cat…” “I’m allergic to cats, Kate.” “You’re so disappointing.”

 

________________________  
The first really cold fall day is blessedly supervillain free. Kate steals a pair of his sweatpants and wears them over her shorts, rolls the legs up. She makes a mix of hot chocolate and coffee that they drink while curled up under blankets on his bed.  
Sometimes he wonders why they don’t spend time at her place, then remembers her dad, and doesn’t say anything.  
She reads a book that’s thicker than his wrist, sunglasses pushed up to her forehead, hair tied in a messy knot. He wraps an arm around the bend in her waist where she’s sitting up, pushes his nose into the strip of skin that shows there.  
When she’s done reading they have chicken nuggets and play Mario Kart, where she swears and blue shells him like eight times and tickles the arch of his feet til he swerves off the road. They chat idly about Halloween plans until he’s exhausted, and they go to sleep face to face.

____________________________________  
“Clint, have you seen-” 

“-Twix are in the cabinet near the sink,” he calls out.

He hears rustling and Kate appears, a huge bowl in her hands. She’s wearing his favorite purple t-shirt. “You do realize there’s only like five kids in the entire building, right?” He shrugs and she smiles. He’s about to steal a Twix when someone knocks on the door. 

“Trick or…oh.” 

It’s Bucky, tapping his gun against his thigh. “Team needs you.” 

“Aw _shit_ ,” they say together.

 

Later, when they’re back home and Kate is done bandaging his arm, they eat fistfuls of candy and watch shitty horror movies. 

“We’re gonna spend-”

“-Thanksgiving together, yeah.” 

He puts his head back on her shoulder. She’s warm and soft and smells like him. He taps his fingers against the thick veins of her inner wrist. “Kate?” She makes a sleepy noise. “Do you want kids?”

She lets out a long breath. “ _Jesus_ , Clint. _No_.”

“Oh thank God.” 

“Go to sleep, dumbass. We’ll have apple cider and waffles in the morning.” 

“I love you so much.”

She kisses his temple. “I love you, too.”

 

_________________________________  
It’s raining and Kate’s at his door with tears falling down her face. “Kate?” He pulls her inside, feeling how wet her jacket is. She moves into his chest, presses her face against his shirt. He wraps an arm around her. “Kate? Did something happen? Is your team okay?” 

“Yeah,” she mumbles, moving back as Lucky pushes himself between them, tail wagging. “Hey, big guy.” She scratches at his head, finally smiling a little. 

Clint pulls her to his room, untangles the soaked scarf from around her neck, tugs at her wet clothes. “I’m gonna get a towel.” 

When he comes back she’s pulled on a pair of his sweats and a t-shirt, her clothes piled on the floor. He towels her hair dry, knowing she’ll speak when she wants to. “Tommy left again.”

“Aw, Kate.” She sniffs and nods, wrapping her fingers in the bottom of his shirt. “I’ll heat up apple cider and grab the granola bars you like, okay?” 

She nods and sprawls out on his bed, wiping at her face. He hates when Kate cries. When he comes back in she’s asleep, arms wrapped around his pillow. He puts the mugs down and curls himself around her, letting his face rest against the damp hair on the back of her neck.  
______________________  
They put a streak of purple in their hair one day, end up with stained hands and purple flecks all over the kitchen sink. Kate laughs when he spills the dye on Lucky, tells him that the whole family matches.


End file.
